Rengganis' Stories revisited

Since I've moved my Indonesian blog to wordpress, I'm going to use this blog to write my English version blog. So, it's not over yet guys and girls. Please do keep coming here to read my stories, if you want...akakakkaka..... Currently, I'm trying to translate my Indonesian posts to English. I'll see you next time.

Yoroshiku onegaishimasu.....

Moving Out for Indonesian Version

For convenience matter, my Indonesian blog has moved to wordpress. But this blog is still alive for my English blog version. Please feel free to visit my Indonesian blog.

My Trip to Bandung

It's our faculty place of holiday, Bandung! The trip took 4 days, but we spent 2 days on bus, since it's a loooong trip from Surabaya to Bandung (about 600 km). Ouch, it really hurt my back!! We took off saturday afternoon, and arrived Sunday morning, and did hotel check-in, in Bali World Hotel. We continued our trip to Rumah Stroberi (Strawberry House) to supposedly look at strawberries fields. Alas, after a long uphill journey, we couldn't enter the garden since all the strawberries had been harvested. After that, we're supposed to visit Mount Tangkuban Perahu, the famous legendary mountain. It was said that the mountain was formed because of a giant boat kicked by a man named Sangkuriang. He built the boat upon a woman's request whom he wanted to marry. The woman, Dayang Sumbi, didn't want to marry him, so she made that impossible request, that Sangkuriang must build a giant boat in a night. Because he had a magical power, he was able to nearly finish the boat before sunrise. Dayang Sumbi, afraid that she must marry him, made a trick. She made a rooster to crow before dawn, so that Sangkuriang thought that he failed to build the boat before sunrise. He got very angry and kicked the nearly finished boat to the air, and it fell aside. The boat was then said to became a mountain. I know, it's a ridiculous story. But it's a legend, so accept it! Ehehee....
Too bad, we couldn't visit the mountain, since it's getting dark. So we continued to Ciater, a natural hot water spree. Many people visit this place to cure their skin diseases, since the water contains sulphur. Dakara, I didn't dare to swim there, you know what I mean? Hey, I didn't want to get skin disease.
The next day, we went to Mekar Sari Park, which is famous for its huge collection of fruit plants. The trip took 3,5 hours by bus, and we only got to see trees! Yes, trees. Will someone explain why in the first place we had to visit the park? Anyway, we continued to Chinese Village in Cibubur, where we could buy many Chinese stuffs, from purses to vampire's hats.
We returned to Bandung at 7 pm and after dinner, there always a karaoke session where everyone would proudly perform their talents in singing, except me of course!
The last day was spent in Pasar Baru (New Market), which is famous as the shopping paradise in Bandung. I didn't buy a lot of stuffs though, since I'm not a good bidder, hahaha.... Tuesday afternoon, we took off back to Surabaya and arrived Wednesday morning. Well, it wasn't the perfect holiday, but at least it can refresh my tired mind from ordinary work. So, where will we go for the next holiday? Singapore maybe? Hmmm......

More photos can be found here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/26417081@N08/?saved=1

Vanilla Latte on A Stick

I just bought a vanilla latte flavored lipgloss, pretty unique. There are actually several other flavors, such as strawberry (it's pretty common), choco chip, and blueberry cheese cake. Too bad, the latter was out of stock. This lipgloss made me want to drink a hot latte in J.Co Donuts and Coffee, with a delicious glazzy donut, hhmmm..... yummy~~

Blogging Problem

Something's wrong with the internet connection in my office. Download speed is extremely fast, this morning it made an unofficial speed record, 76KBps!! (Well, it IS fast here in Indonesia, poor me). But on the other hand, upload speed is almost zero! I'm having difficulty in updating my blog. I can't even access YahooMail & GMail, let alone upload some pics/vids. What is going on? The administrator guy (ehhm... a.k.a. Achmad Junaidi, he's a lecturer and also our network admin) said that nothing's wrong with Telkom's Speedy connection. The problem is in the proxy settings, it needs to be reinstalled. Too bad, since he's busy finishing his master thesis, we should wait patiently :(. Uh-oh, until when? Geez, rengganis. You can still use internet in internet cafes, or at home. Ehehe.... I prefer free internet, please. Internet connection in my home is dial-up, it's not as fast as that in the office. (www.reasons.com, hihihii....) So I apologize if I seldom update my blog. Hontouni gomenasai....

Yoroshiku ne...

Oh My Indonesia.......

Government has decided to raise oil price per May 24 at 00.00. Premium is IDR6000 and Diesel is IDR5500, an almost 30% raise! Yosh, let's tight up our belt, or you can consider this a forced diet. I've been trying to minimize my gasoline consumption. Now I don't turn up the aircon in my car, when I go to and come from work, though I wear a uniform in this hot summer. Well, I'll just have to deal with that. That's why, I always go home after the sunset, so the temperature is cooler.
Hmm... this afternoon I heard a news on TV. I don't understand those politicians. They made this high oil price as an issue to do bad campaign against incumbent government. They said that there's no need to raise oil price, because there's should be an efficiency cut in Pertamina (our national oil company), and also we can find new energy sources, etc. People, puhleezzz!! Like our government never think of that! As a good citizen, if you have important information on how to obtain new source of energy, other than oil & gas, please share your thoughts and ideas. Put all your best efforts to help our government. Don't just talk. It's like they're saying "We can find new sources of energy. How? Vote me as a president first!" OMG..... how selfish! Do all Indonesian people behave like this? Selfish and criticizing other people without giving supportive advices? Oh, pity you, my Indonesia.....

Santun Berkendara

Akhir-akhir ini aku semakin merasakan sopan santun berkendara di jalanan Surabaya sudah sangat langka. Di pagi hari, semua orang bergegas menuju tempat kerjanya, pasti. Tidak ada yang ingin terlambat, apalagi kalau kantornya menerapkan sistem absensi sidik jari, yang kalau terlambat 1 menit saja, tidak akan dapat uang transport hari itu (hahaa.... kantor siapa ya? ehhm). Semua terburu-buru, tapi bukan berarti bisa main selonong seenaknya. Sudah dari jarak 100m kasih sign untuk belok, eeeh ndilalah pas ambil ancang-ancang, ada sepeda motor ngebut dari sisi kiri & memotong jalur! Aku hanya bisa mengelus dada.
Petang hari, pulang kantor, jalanan remang-remang dan agak sepi. Ketika sedang memacu mobil sedikit kencang, tiba-tiba dari belokan muncul (lagi-lagi!) sepeda motor dengan laju kencang, lampu depan tidak menyala, dan melawan arus!! Lagi-lagi hanya bisa mengelus dada.
Tetapi mungkin kondisi di Surabaya tidak separah di Jakarta, atau bahkan Tangerang (rumah orangtuaku). Seumur-umur, di Surabaya, selama saya mengisi bensin di pom bensin tidak pernah mengalami hal ini. Adalah hal yang wajar, setelah selesai mengisi bensin, menutup tangki dan membayar, kita masuk ke dalam mobil. Mobil juga tidak akan seketika langsung jalan, karena kita masih menata posisi duduk, menstarter mesin, pasang sabuk pengaman, mungkin menyalakan AC, dan mengunci pintu. Tapi itu pun rasanya tidak terlalu lama, maksimal hanya 30 - 45 detik saja. Pengemudi mobil yang antri di belakang pun tidak pernah protes dan menunggu dengan sabar. Makanya itu aku kaget setengah mati waktu isi bensin di Tangerang. Masya Allah, baru saja duduk di dalam mobil dan baru akan menstarter mesin, mobil di belakang sudah mengklakson dengan nyaringnya karena aku tidak segera beranjak dari situ! Wajar saja di Ibukota & daerah sekitarnya sering terjadi konflik karena hal-hal yang sepele.

Yoroshiku ne....